Eleonora Teplinsky, MD

10/28/2025

In the last few weeks, I have seen too many posts and videos claiming that certain foods, diets, and other lifestyle measures “prevent” cancer.

Here’s the thing: lifestyle measures can absolutely reduce cancer risk but they do not on their own prevent a cancer diagnosis. For example: lowering alcohol intake will lower risk but it doesn’t eliminate it altogether because cancer is multifactorial and it’s generally never just one risk factor.

You can do all the “right” things and still receive a cancer diagnosis and using the word “prevent” can unintentionally lead to feelings of blame and shame. You are never to blame for a cancer diagnosis.

I am a huge proponent of lifestyle measures to reduce cancer risk and risk of cancer recurrence (eat more plants, less processed and ultra processed foods, drink less alcohol or eliminate alcohol altogether, stop smoking, and move your body!). I believe movement is medicine and food is medicine. I try to practice this daily. With that, it’s equally important that we use thoughtful language and avoid oversimplified or absolute claims.

Remember: media headlines are often sensationalized so keep that in mind as well..and the actual conversations are often much more nuanced and more in depth than a 10 second sound bite.

10/27/2025

On Wednesday 10/29 7pm EST/6pm CST, I am moderating a webinar with (an incredible organization that provides free peer-to-peer support and resources for kids and teens impacted by their parent or guardian’s cancer). This webinar is in collaboration with Us RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center and .

In this video, I am sharing some tips about talking to your children:

🔸Gently open the door. Create small, non-pressured invitations. You might say, “I have a visit with my doctor today. I’m here to talk about it if you have questions.”

🔸Ask focused questions. Instead of broad, overwhelming questions (“Do you want to talk about what’s happening?”), try specifics: “Do you have questions about the nausea I’m experiencing from treatment?” This gives them a concrete starting point.

🔸Normalize their feelings. Children may hold back because they fear making you sad or upset. Reassure them: “It’s okay to talk about sad topics. It won’t upset me to talk about it with you.”

🔸Use indirect moments. Conversations in the car, when eye contact isn’t required, can feel less intimidating and may make it easier to open up.

I hope to see you on the webinar (you can also sign up for recording). Go to https://www.picklesgroup.org/program-calendar/webinar-10-29-25 to sign up or comment KIDS and I’ll send you the link!

What questions do you have about talking to your children or feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

10/26/2025

Answering some of your questions about immunotherapy! Let me know what your experience has been with immunotherapy and any questions you might have. 

10/25/2025

New non hormonal medication, elinzanetant (Lynkuet), FDA approved for moderate to severe hot flashes and night sweats! I go through all the details in the video including data for elinzanetant in breast cancer. It is a daily pill to be taken at bedtime. Let me know all your questions!

10/21/2025

Two big ESMO study updates looking at antibody drug conjugates for the first line treatment of metastatic triple negative breast cancer in patients who are PD-L1 negative and are not candidates for immunotherapy.

1. ASCENT-03: Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) versus chemotherapy —> Trodelvy reduced risk of progression or death by 38%. Progression free survival improved from 6.9 months to 9.7 months. It is still too early to see if survival is improved but there is a signal for improved survival (and patients who developed disease progression were allowed to receive Trodelvy which may impact those results).

2. Tropion-Breast 02: Datroway (datapotamab deruxtecan) versus chemotherapy —> Datroway reduced risk of progression or death by 43%. Progression free survival improved from 5.6 to 10.8 months. There is a 5 month overall survival benefit. (I know it doesn’t seem like a lot but it is progress).

Both drugs bind to TROP2 but the chemotherapy that they deliver into the cells is different between the two. We can’t compare the studies directly to each other as they are somewhat different.

Side effect profiles of the two drugs are different as well. There are more GI side effects and low blood counts w Trodelvy (need to consider a white blood cell booster shot) and more ocular 👀 side effects and mucositis (mouth sores/ulcers) w Datroway.

I go into all this and more in the video but bottom line: these ADCs will likely become the new preferred first line option in patients w PD-L1 negative metastatic TNBC. How do we pick between the two? Multiple factors including disease characteristics, side effect profiles and patient preferences. This is a really important result and I am thrilled that we have more options for our patients.

Let me know all your questions!

10/18/2025

One of the highly anticipated results at ESMO 2025 is the update to the POSITIVE study. The POSITIVE study evaluated the safety of stopping endocrine therapy in hormone receptor positive breast cancer to attempt pregnancy.

You can find some key facts about the longer follow up data and updates here and all the details on my Substack- go to drteplinsky.substack.com or comment POSITIVE for the link!

The original study showed that there was no increase in short term risk of recurrence (median 41 months of follow-up).

At ESMO, they now present the 71 month median follow-up data (nearly 6 years of follow-up).

The breast cancer-free interval (time without breast cancer) is 12.3% in the POSITIVE study versus 13.2% in their control arm (which was the data in the TEXT/SOFT trials that evaluated ovarian function suppression).

Among the 497 women followed for pregnancy outcomes, 377 (76%) reported becoming pregnant at least once with a total of 589 pregnancies. 343/377 patients had at least one live birth. Patients who had a pregnancy had similar rate of breast cancer events compared to those who did not.

All the details and breakdown in my Substack so please check that out and let me know your thoughts/questions. What has been your experience?

10/17/2025

Two big study updates presented at ESMO on adjuvant ribociclib and abemaciclib (CDK 4/6 inhibitors) in early stage breast cancer. All explained in my Substack. Comment CDK for the link or go to drteplinsky.substack.com.

Bottom line if you just want the cliff notes:

⭐️ Ribociclib (Kisqali): At a median follow-up of 55.4 months, absolute improvement in invasive disease free survival (survival without disease) was 4.5% in patients receiving ribociclib (81% in endocrine therapy alone versus 85.5% in ribociclib+ET).

⭐️ Abemaciclib (Verzenio): 7 year overall survival was 86.8% with abemaciclib-ET and 85.0% with ET (absolute difference, 1.8%). This translates into a 15.8% lower risk of death with abemaciclib + endocrine therapy compared to endocrine therapy alone. Invasive disease free survival was improved by 6.5% at the 7 year mark with the addition of abemaciclib.

Additionally, there is a significant difference in the numbers of patients who have developed a distant recurrence and are being treated for metastatic disease (there are 33% fewer patients living with metastatic disease: 180 vs 266 in the group treated with abemaciclib). Over time, this may lead to a further reduction in death from breast cancer.

For all the details and nuanced info, check out the substack!

10/17/2025

Answering some of your questions on metastatic breast cancer. Let’s start with this one on ESR1 mutation testing.

10/17/2025

⭐️ New Interlude 🎙️Podcast with Abby Jones!

Abby () is a 29-year-old, six-year breast cancer survivor and passionate advocate for cancer awareness and policy change. Originally from rural Connecticut, she graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2018 with a degree in Government and a focus on Leadership and Community Engagement. After college, Abby began her career in public service and government contracting, working on digital services for the IRS before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.

Even throughout treatment, she continued advancing her career and later transitioned into healthcare policy, co-leading the Colorado Cancer Caucus to bring awareness and collaboration to cancer issues across the state.

Now living in Denver, Abby is pursuing her law degree at the University of Denver, where she’s focused on public policy and advocacy. She’s also deeply involved with The Chick Mission, helping young cancer patients access fertility preservation. Abby continues to share her story to empower others navigating cancer and survivorship. Abby shares her story, the advocacy work she is doing and ongoing health and policy issues that may transform health care now and in the future.

You can listen to 🎧 the Interlude Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or on my website, www.drteplinsky.com. Comment PODCAST and I’ll DM you the link!

10/16/2025

On today's episode, I am speaking with Abby Jones. Abby is a 29-year-old, six-year breast cancer survivor and passionate advocate for cancer awareness and policy change. Originally from rural Connecticut, she graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2018 with a degree in Government and a focus on Leadership and Community Engagement. After college, Abby began her career in public service and government contracting, working on digital services for the IRS before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019....

On today’s episode, I am speaking with Abby Jones. Abby is a 29-year-old, six-year breast cancer survivor and passionate advocate for cancer awareness and policy change. Originally from rural…

10/16/2025

In Berlin for the ESMO 2025 Meeting and sharing a few breast cancer studies I am excited for that are being presented on Day 1, 10/17. Let me know which ones you are interested in and what other topics you want to hear about!

10/14/2025

October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day and I am asking you to leave your questions on metastatic breast cancer in the comments.

I’m also highlighting two press releases for the ASCENT-04 and Tropion-Breast02 studies that will be presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology 2025 Meeting later this week. These studies are for metastatic triple negative PD-L1 negative breast cancer in patients who are not candidates for checkpoint inhibitors looking at Trodelvy or Datroway (antibody drug conjugates). More in the video!